Displaying 121-150 of 171 results
Video
4.1.2013

Unnecessary Censorship: Ed-Reform Edition

Featuring (in order of appearance): Michael Petrilli - Executive Vice President, Thomas B. Fordham Institute Amber Winkler - Vice President for Research, Thomas B. Fordham Institute John Chubb - Interim CEO, Education Sector Anne L. Bryant - Executive Director, National School Boards Association Gene I. Maeroff - Founding Director, Hechinger Institute Mike Miles - Superintendent, Dallas ISD Christopher S. Barclay - President, Montgomery County Board of Education, Maryland Geoffrey Jones - founding principal, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Chester E. Finn, Jr. - President, Thomas B. Fordham Institute Rick Hess - Resident Scholar and Director of Education Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute

Video
3.14.2013

Assessing the President's Preschool Plan

In his State of the Union address, President Obama called for making preschool available to every child in America. But questions abound: Is universal preschool politically and fiscally feasible—or even educationally necessary? Should we be expending federal resources on universal pre-K or targeting true Kindergarten-readiness programs for the neediest kids? How robust is the evidence of lasting impacts? And what exactly is the president proposing?

Video
2.21.2013

The Education Gadfly Show: Interview with John Kirtley

Following the release of Fordham's report, School Choice Regulations: Red Tape or Red Herring?, Mike Petrilli and Adam Emerson sat down with John Kirtley of Step Up for Students to talk about when private schools choose to participate in choice programs. While Fordham found that Catholic schools were less likely to be deterred by accountability regulations, Kirtley took a slightly different tack. Watch to find out more!

Video
2.14.2013

School Choice Regulations: Red Tape or Red Herring?

Many proponents of private school choice take for granted that schools won't participate if government asks too much of them, especially if it demands that they be publicly accountable for student achievement. Were such school refusals to be widespread, the programs themselves could not serve many kids. But is this assumption justified? A new Fordham Institute study provides empirical answers. Do regulations and accountability requirements deter private schools from participating in choice programs? How important are such requirements compared to other factors, such as voucher amounts? Are certain types of regulations stronger deterrents than others? Do certain types schools shy away from regulation more than others? These are just some of the questions that David Stuit, author of the Fordham study, will discuss with a panel featuring John Kirtley of Step Up for Students (Florida), Larry Keough of the Catholic Conference of Ohio, and Paul Miller of the National Association of Independent Schools.

Video
2.7.2013

Operating in the Dark

The United States faces a shortage of high-quality school leaders at a time when it is more apparent than ever that principals are key to attracting and retaining teacher talent and driving the improvement of student learning. While districts hire principals, states control the entry point to the principalship, overseeing the preparation and licensure of school leaders. Yet, to date, there has been no one central repository of information on state policies impacting principal preparation, licensure, tenure, and data collection to monitor the outcomes of those policies. The Bush Institute's new report, Operating in the Dark: What Outdated State Policies and Data Gaps Mean for Effective School Leadership, is a first-of-its-kind compilation of state-reported data on how the 50 states and the District of Columbia are using their authority to increase the supply of high-quality principals. Please join us for a presentation of the study's findings and a panel discussion, moderated by Fordham's Chester E. Finn, Jr., on how states can strengthen the rigor of the principal preparation program approval process and establish licensure requirements that validate and confirm that principals are indeed ready for the job and effective once employed as school leaders. The panelists will also discuss the role of the states in collecting data on principal effectiveness once school leaders are on the job and using that data to increase the supply of high-quality principals available for hire.

Video
1.15.2013

State of Education, State Policy Report Card 2013

StudentsFirst's much-awaited (and plenty contentious) 2013 State Policy Report Card awarded its highest rankings (B-minuses) to Louisiana and Florida; a dozen states earned an F. After California was flunked, chief deputy superintendent Richard Zeiger took his ire to the New York Times: “‘This group has focused on an extremely narrow, unproven method that they think will improve teaching—and we just flat-out disagree with them.’” This video's panel discussion digs into the new report card, the future of education reform, and how to bridge the divide between policy and practice.

Video
12.20.2012

Turnaround Merry-go-round: Is the music stopping?

In November 2012, the U.S. Department of Education released an analysis of the federal School Improvement Grants program, which invests in persistently underperforming schools with the expectation that they will turn around. The early results of its most recent $3-billion infusion, as described by Education Week: "mixed" (http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2012/11/initial_school_imp…). Two-thirds of the schools made gains in math or reading scores, but the other third saw achievement decline. Program supporters contend that one year of data is not enough to draw conclusions about the program. Critics ask whether taxpayers should expend a single cent more on what they deem a failed experiment. Who's right? The Fordham Institute is bringing together three leading voices on urban schooling for a debate on the future of turnarounds: Bellwether Education and Fordham edu-wonk Andy Smarick; the Department of Education's Carmel Martin; and former Chicago schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard.

Video
10.29.2012

How Strong Are U.S. Teacher Unions?

This timely study represents the most comprehensive analysis of American teacher unions' strength ever conducted, ranking all fifty states and the District of Columbia according to the power and influence of their state-level unions. To assess union strength, the Fordham Institute and Education Reform Now examined thirty-seven different variables across five realms: 1) Resources and Membership 2) Involvement in Politics 3) Scope of Bargaining 4) State Policies 5) Perceived Influence The study analyzed factors ranging from union membership and revenue to state bargaining laws to campaign contributions, and included such measures such as the alignment between specific state policies and traditional union interests and a unique stakeholder survey. The report sorts the fifty-one jurisdictions into five tiers, ranking their teacher unions from strongest to weakest and providing in-depth profiles of each. Download the report: http://www.edexcellence.net/publications/how-strong-are-us-teacher-unio…

Video
10.25.2012

Exam Schools: The Ups and Downs of Selective Public High Schools

The plight of low-performing students dominates our education news and policies. Yet America's high flyers demand innovative, rigorous schooling as well, particularly if the country is to sharpen its economic and scientific edge. Motivated, high-ability youngsters can be served in myriad ways by public education, including schools that specialize in them. In a new book from Princeton University Press, Exam Schools: Inside America's Most Selective Public High Schools, co-authors Chester Finn and Jessica Hockett identify 165 such high schools across America. In this Fordham LIVE! conversation, they and others will examine some of the issues that selective-admission public high schools pose. Who attends them? How are their students selected? Are such schools the future of gifted education or do they unfairly advantage a select few at the expense of most students? Just how different are they, anyway? Authors Finn and Hockett will be joined by a pair of educators instrumental in the creation of two of the "exam schools" profiled in the book: Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, president emeritus of George Washington University and a key player in the establishment of D.C.'s selective School Without Walls, and Geoffrey Jones, founding principal of Alexandria's Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology

Video
10.18.2012

After Chicago: The future of teacher unions

The membership of the Chicago Teachers Union approved a new contract last week but the legacy of the rancorous strike is far from settled. Did the experience prove Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker right? Will unions continue to impede reform—and add to costs—so long as state law gives them expansive collective bargaining and striking rights? To answer these and other questions, the Fordham Institute is bringing together two voices on teacher labor issues, Democrats for Education Reform's Joe Williams and the Hoover Institution's Terry Moe, for a debate on the future of American teacher unionism.

Video
9.20.2012

Exam Schools & 3 Myths

In an educational climate consumed with leaving no child behind and closing achievement gaps, America's highest performing and most promising students have too often been neglected. Our nation's persistent inability to cultivate our high-potential youth—especially tomorrow's leaders in science, technology, entrepreneurship, and other sectors that bear on our long-term prosperity and well-being—poses a critical threat to American competitiveness. EXAM SCHOOLS: Inside America's Most Selective Public High Schools, by Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Jessica A. Hockett, presents a pioneering examination of our nation's most esteemed and selective public high schools—academic institutions committed exclusively to preparing America's best and brightest for college and beyond. Like Exam Schools on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Exam-Schools-by-Chester-E-Finn-Jr-Jessic…... Buy Exam Schools from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Exam-Schools-Inside-Americas-Selective/dp/0691156…... Buy Exam Schools from Princeton University Press: http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9811.html

Video
8.30.2012

Exam Schools: The Ups and Downs of Selective Public High Schools

The plight of low-performing students dominates our education news and policies. Yet America’s high flyers demand innovative, rigorous schooling as well, particularly if the country is to sharpen its economic and scientific edge. Motivated, high-ability youngsters can be served in myriad ways by public education, including schools that specialize in them. In a new book from Princeton University Press, Exam Schools: Inside America's Most Selective Public High Schools, co-authors Chester Finn and Jessica Hockett identify 165 such high schools across America. In this Fordham LIVE! conversation, they and others will examine some of the issues that selective-admission public high schools pose. Who attends them? How are their students selected? Are such schools the future of gifted education or do they unfairly advantage a select few at the expense of most students? Just how different are they, anyway?

Video
7.26.2012

Ten Years After NCLB: Is the GOP Moving Forward, Backward, or Sideways on Education?

What a difference a decade makes. For all the debate around vouchers and student loans, perhaps the most striking element of Mitt Romney's education agenda is how much it differs from the approach of No Child Left Behind, the defining policy of the George W. Bush years. That does not mean, however, that other Republicans necessarily agree with it. The GOP stance on education, and particularly federal education policy, is clearly shifting. But in any clear direction? And for the better?"Margaret Spellings" "Lamar Alexander" Senator "United States Senate" "Secretary of Education" "Department of Education" DOE ESEA NCLB Tennessee

Video
6.28.2012

Is American Education Coming Apart?

For all the talk of gaps in achievement, opportunity, and funding between ethnic and racial groups in American education, a different divide may also be splitting our schools and our future. In his acclaimed and controversial recent book, Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010, scholar/pundit/provocateur Charles Murray describes a widening class schism. On Tuesday, June 26, he will deliver a lecture on what that divide means for U.S. schools and education policy. What does it portend for student achievement? For diversity within schools and choices among them? Is our education system equipped to serve a society separated by social class?

Video
5.31.2012

Pricing the Common Core: How Much Will Smart Implementation Cost States and Districts?

The Common Core is coming, with forty-five states and the District of Columbia challenged to implement these new standards. Yet mystery surrounds how much this will cost states (and districts)—and whether the payoff will justify the price. On May 30, the Fordham Institute peeked behind that curtain with a lively panel discussion of "Pricing the Common Core." Taking part will be former Florida Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith, Achieve President Mike Cohen, former Department of Education official Ze'ev Wurman, and University of San Francisco professor Patrick J. Murphy, who will present the findings of a new Fordham study that he co-authored. It estimates the dollar cost of the implementation process for each participating state—and shows how the pricetag varies depending on the approach a state selects.

Video
5.31.2012

The Price of the Common Core

The Common Core State Standards will soon be driving instruction in forty-five states and the District of Columbia. While the standards are high quality, getting their implementation right is a real challenge—and it won't be free, a serious concern given the tight budgets of many districts and states. But while critics have warned of a hefty price tag, the reality is more complicated.

Video
5.24.2012

Digital Learning: The Future of Schooling? Session 1

Join us for this important, nonpartisan event about digital learning and where it will take education in Ohio -- and the nation -- in the years to come. National and state-based education experts and policymakers will debate and discuss digital learning in the context of the Common Core academic standards initiatives, teacher evaluations and school accountability, governance challenges and opportunities, and school funding and spending.

Video
4.19.2012

Education Reform for the Digital Era

Is digital learning education's latest fad or its future? What fundamental changes to the ways we fund, staff, and govern American schools are necessary to fulfill the technology's potential? Will policy tweaks suffice or do we need a total system overhaul—and a big change in the reform priorities that can bring this about? Who will resist—and do their objections have merit? Fordham is bringing together experts on all aspects of education policy—from governance to finance to human capital—to examine how policymakers can make digital learning a transformative tool to improve American education...and weigh the dangers that lie ahead. The panel featured the governance expertise of the Hoover Institution's John Chubb, insights into teaching's future from Bryan Hassel of Public Impact, analysis of the costs of online learning from the Parthenon Group's Eleanor Laurans, and the cautionary perspective of Emory University's Mark Bauerlein.

Video
2.24.2012

Rethinking Education Governance Session IV: The Way Forward

What's next? This panel brings together a group of "big thinkers" to hash out a plan for education governance in the twenty-first century. What should the structure look like? Who should helm the wheel? And how can we bring these thoughts into action? Paul Hill, Kenneth Meier, Jon Schnur, and Paul Pastorek will engage in a roundtable discussion to think through these questions. Moderator: Chester E. Finn, Jr., president, Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Video
2.24.2012

Rethinking Education Governance Session III: Alternative Approaches

Many lessons on effective governance arrangements can be pulled from other sectors--and other nations. During this panel, authors Michael Mintrom, Barry Rabe, and Richard Walley will explain what insights can (and can't) be drawn from other countries—and from other federal initiatives, like healthcare and environmental policy. Moderator Paul Manna will also present a paper by Sir Michael Barber on lessons from British education-reform efforts. Moderator: Paul Manna, associate professor, College of William and Mary

Video
2.24.2012

Rethinking Education Governance Session II: Traditional Institutions in Flux

This panel calls into question the ideal of local control. Its panelists—including Jeffrey Henig, Frederick M. Hess, Kathryn McDermott, and Kenneth Wong—will investigate the rise of mayoral control, the growth of interstate collaboration, and the role of the state and federal governments in education. Discussant Margaret Goertz will prod panelists to explain these shifts--and what they think each means for education in the twenty-first century. Moderator: Patrick McGuinn, associate professor, Drew University

Video
2.24.2012

Rethinking Education Governance Session I: Challenges

From the event Rethinking Education Governance on December 1, 2011 at the Capitol Hilton - http://www.edexcellence.net/events/rethinking-education-g... Opening Remarks: Chester E. Finn, Jr. Session I: Challenges What governance challenges currently mire efforts to reform education? This panel will tackle the financial systems and governance structures that impede change, drawing on the examples of innovators both within and without the system whose reforms have been stifled or slowed by our curious current structures and policies. It will also explain how our present system has harmed our nation's most disadvantaged youth. Panelists include Cynthia Brown, Michelle Davis, Marguerite Roza, and Steven F. Wilson. Moderator: Michael J. Petrilli, executive vice president, Thomas B. Fordham Insitutute

Video
2.24.2012

Rethinking Education Governance Lunchtime Keynote: Chris Cerf

During this lunchtime lecture, New Jersey Commissioner of Education Chris Cerf will discuss his thoughts on how to improve our current education-governance structure, drawing from his experiences as deputy chancellor of New York City Department of Education, his current role at the New Jersey Department of Education, and his time working for the federal government. ** We had some technical difficulties during the Q&A which is why the video is out of focus. We apologize for any inconvenience.